Henry the Navigator
14092
225108499
2008-07-11T22:33:42Z
XPTO
5145276
/* Early life */
{{Infobox Person
|name=Prince Henry "the Navigator"|image= Henry the Navigator1.jpg
|caption=[[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] ''[[infante]]'' and [[Portugal in the Age of Discovery|patron of the Portuguese exploration]]
|birth_date={{birth date|1394|3|4|mf=y}}
|birth_place=[[Oporto]], [[Portugal]]
|death_date={{death date and age|1460|11|13|1394|3|4}}
|death_place=[[Sagres]], [[Algarve]], [[Portugal]]
}}
[[Image:Coat of Arms of Prince Ferdinand of Aviz.svg|150px|right]]
{{House of Aviz}}
'''The Infante Henrique, Duke of Viseu''' ([[Porto]], [[March 4]], [[1394]] – [[Sagres, Portugal|Sagres]], [[November 13]], [[1460]]); [[Pronunciation|pron.]] {{IPA2|ẽ'ʁik(ɨ)}}), was an ''[[infante]]'' ([[prince]]) of the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] [[House of Aviz]] and an important figure in the early days of the [[Portuguese Empire]], being responsible for the beginning of the European worldwide explorations. He is known in [[English language|English]] as '''Prince Henry the Navigator''' or '''the Seafarer''' ([[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]: ''o Navegador'').
Prince Henry the Navigator was the third child of King [[John I of Portugal]], the founder of the [[House of Aviz|Aviz]] dynasty, and of [[Philippa of Lancaster]], the daughter of [[John of Gaunt]]. Henry encouraged his father to conquer [[Ceuta]] ([[1415]]), the [[Muslim]] port on the [[North Africa]]n coast across the [[Straits of Gibraltar]] from the [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberian]] peninsula, with profound consequences on Henry's worldview: Henry became aware of the profit possibilities in the [[Sahara]]n trade routes that terminated there and became fascinated with [[Africa]] in general; he was most intrigued by the Christian legend of [[Prester John]] and the expansion of Portuguese trade.
It is a common conception that Henry gathered at his Vila on the [[Sagres]] peninsula a school of [[navigator]]s and [[mapmaking|map-makers]]. He did employ some cartographers to help him chart the coast of [[Mauritania]] in the wake of voyages he sent there, but for the rest there was no center of navigational science or any supposed [[observatory]] in the modern sense of the word, nor was there an organized navigational center. In “Crónica da Guiné” Henry is described as a person with no luxuries, not avaricious, speaking with soft words and calm gestures, a man of many virtues that never allowed any poor person leave his presence empty handed.
== Early life ==
Henry was born in 1394 in [[Porto]], probably when the royal couple was being housed in the old [[mint]] of the city, nowadays called [[Casa do Infante]] (Prince's House). He was the third son born to [[Philippa of Lancaster]], the sister of [[King Henry IV of England]]. Henry was 21 when he, his father and brothers conquered the [[Moorish]] port of [[Ceuta]] in northern [[Morocco]], that had been for a long time the base for [[Barbary pirate]]s that assaulted the Portuguese coast, depopulating villages by capturing their inhabitants to be sold in the [[African slave trade|African slave market]]. This attack was successful, as it inspired Henry to explore down the coast of [[Africa]], most of which was unknown to [[European ethnic groups|Europeans]]. The desire to locate the source of the [[West Africa]]n gold trade, find the legendary Christian kingdom of [[Prester John]], and stop the pirate attacks on the Portuguese coast were three of his main interests in the region. The ships that sailed the Mediterranean at that time were too slow and too heavy to make these voyages. Under his direction, a new and much lighter ship was developed, the [[caravel]], which would allow sea captains to sail further, faster and much more efficiently. In 1419, his father appointed him the governor of the province of [[Algarve]].
== Resources and income ==
On [[May 25]], [[1420]], Henry gained appointment as the governor of the very rich [[Order of Christ]], the Portuguese successor to the [[Knights Templar]], which had its headquarters at [[Tomar]]. Henry would hold this position for the remainder of his life, and the order was an important source of funds for Henry's ambitious plans, especially his persistent attempts to conquer the [[Canary Islands]], that the Portuguese claimed having discovered before the year 1346.
Henry also had other resources. When [[Joao I of Portugal|John I]] died, Henry's eldest brother, [[Edward of Portugal|Duarte]] became head of the castles council, and granted Henry a "Royal Flush" of all profits from trading within the areas he discovered as well as the sole right to authorize expeditions beyond [[Cape Bojador]]. He also held various valuable monopolies on resources in the Algarve. When Duarte died eight years later, Henry supported his brother [[Peter, Duke of Coimbra|Pedro]] for the regency during [[Afonso V of Portugal]]'s minority, and in return received a confirmation of this levy. Henry also promoted the colonization of the [[Azores]] during Pedro's regency (1439–1448).
== Vila do Infante, patron of Portuguese exploration ==
According to [[João de Barros]], in Algarve he repopulated a village that he called Terçanabal (maybe from * dársen'Anibal). This village was situated in a strategic position for his maritime enterprises and was later called Vila do Infante.
From his Vila do Infante, or Town of the Prince, on the Sagres peninsula, Henry sponsored voyages down the coast of [[Mauretania]] that were primarily exploration expeditions, later on bringing back to the nearby town of Loola, from whence they set out, numerous African slaves and goods.
[[Image:Azulejos Parque Eduardo VII-1.jpg|left|thumb|220px|Panel of glazed tiles by Jorge Colaço (1922) representing Henry the Navigator at the Promontory of Sagres. Lisboa, Pavilhão Carlos Lopes.]]
The first contacts with the African slave market were made by expeditions to ransom Portuguese subjects enslaved by pirate attacks on Portuguese ships or villages. Henry justified this on the grounds that he was converting these captives to Christianity. As Sir Peter Russell remarks in his biography, "In Henryspeak, conversion and enslavement were interchangeable terms." The view that Henry's court rapidly grew into the technological base for exploration, with a naval arsenal and an observatory, etc., is believed by some historians, though not actually proven.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Henry did possess geographical curiosity, though, and therefore employed cartographers. [[Jehuda Cresques]], a noted [[cartographer]], received an invitation to come to Sagres and probably make maps for Henry, a position he accepted. Henry was somewhat interested in profits from his voyages. From the first Africans that were brought to Lagos for sale in 1444 (see his contemporary biography by Zurara), he received from the merchants the value corresponding to the fifth part (o quinto) as the expedition had been sponsored by the shipowners.
The nearby port of [[Lagos, Portugal|Lagos]] provided a convenient harbor from which these expeditions left. The voyages were made in very small ships, mostly the [[caravel]], a light and maneuverable vessel that used the [[lateen sail]] of the [[Arabs]]. Most of the voyages sent out by Henry consisted of one or two ships that navigated by following the coast, stopping at night to tie up along some shore.
== Early results of Henry's explorers ==
Until Henry's time, [[Cape Bojador]] remained the most southerly point known to Europeans on the unpromising desert coast of Africa, although the ''[[Periplus]]'' of the Carthaginian [[Hanno the Navigator]] described a journey farther south about 2,000 years earlier.
As a second fruit of this work [[João Gonçalves Zarco]], [[Bartolomeu Perestrelo]] and [[Tristão Vaz Teixeira]] rediscovered the [[Madeira Islands]] in 1420, and at Henry's instigation Portuguese settlers colonized the islands.
In 1427, one of Henry's navigators, probably [[Gonçalo Velho]], discovered the [[Azores]]. Portugal soon colonized these islands in 1430.
[[Gil Eanes]], the commander of one of Henry's expeditions, became the first European known to pass Cape Bojador in 1434. This was a breakthrough as it was considered close to the end of the world, with difficult currents that did not encourage commercial enterprise.
[[Image:Henry the Navigator.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Henry and the navigators in the monument to the Portuguese discoveries, Lisbon]]
Henry also continued his involvement in events closer to home. In 1431 he donated houses for the ''[[Estudo Geral]]'' to reunite all the sciences — grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, music and astronomy — into what would later become the [[University of Lisbon]]. For other subjects like medicine or philosophy, he ordered that each room should be decorated according to each subject that was being taught.
He functioned as a primary organizer of the Portuguese expedition to [[Tangier]] in 1437. This proved a disastrous failure; Henry's younger brother [[Fernando, the Saint Prince|Fernando]] was given as a hostage to guarantee that the Portuguese would fulfill the terms of the peace agreement that had been made with [[Çala Ben Çala]]. The agreement was first broken by the Moors, who attacked the Portuguese and captured the Portuguese wounded when they were being carried to the ships, killing those who tried to resist. The [[Archbishop of Braga]] and the count of [[Arraiolos]] refused to approve the terms in the reunion of the ''Portuguese Cortes'', thus condemning Fernando to remain in miserable captivity until his death eleven years later. Henry for most of his last twenty-three years concentrated on his exploration activities, or on Portuguese court politics.
[[Image:HenryTomb-CCBY.jpg|220px|thumb|right|Henry's tomb in the [[Monastery of Batalha]].]]
Using the new ship type, the expeditions then pushed onwards. [[Nuno Tristão]] and [[Antão Gonçalves]] reached [[Nouadhibou|Cape Blanco]] in 1441. The Portuguese sighted the [[Bay of Arguin]] in 1443 and built an important fort there around the year 1448. [[Dinis Dias]] soon came across the [[Senegal River]] and rounded the peninsula of [[Cap-Vert]] in 1444. By this stage the explorers had passed the southern boundary of the desert, and from then on Henry had one of his wishes fulfilled: the Portuguese had circumvented the Muslim land-based trade routes across the western [[Sahara Desert]], and slaves and gold began arriving in Portugal. By 1452, the influx of gold permitted the minting of Portugal's first gold ''[[cruzado]]'' coins. A cruzado was equal to 400 reis at the time. From 1444 to 1446, as many as forty vessels sailed from [[Lagos]] on Henry's behalf, and the first private [[mercantile]] expeditions began.
[[Alvise Cadamosto]] explored the Atlantic coast of Africa and discovered several islands of the [[Cape Verde]] archipelago between 1455 and 1456. In his first voyage, which started on March 22 1455, he visited the Madeira Islands and the Canary Islands. On the second voyage, in 1456, Cadamosto became the first European to reach the Cape Verde Islands. [[António Noli]] later claimed the credit. By 1462, the Portuguese had explored the coast of Africa as far as present-day nation [[Sierra Leone]]. Twenty-eight years later, [[Bartolomeu Dias]] (can be spelt Diaz) proved that Africa could be circumnavigated when he reached the southern tip of the continent. This is now known as the "Cape of Good Hope." In 1498, [[Vasco da Gama]] was the first sailor to travel from Portugal to India.
== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book |last=Beazley |first=C. Raymond |title=Prince Henry the Navigator, the Hero of Portugal and of Modern Discovery, 1394-1460 A.D.: With an Account of Geographical Progress Throughout the Middle Ages As the Preparation for His Work |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1894 |publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons |location=London |isbn= |url=http://www.archive.org/details/princehenrythena18757gut }}
*{{cite book |last=Boxer |first=Charles |title=The Portuguese Seaborne Empire, 1415–1825 |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1991 |editions=2nd rev. ed. edition |publisher=Carcanet Press |location= |isbn=978-0856359620 |pages= }}
* {{cite book |last=Major |first=Richard Henry |title=The life of Prince Henry of Portugal, surnamed the Navigator: and its results |publisher=Asher & Co. |location=London |origyear=1868 |oclc=64421592}}
*{{cite book |last=Martins |first=J. P. Oliveira |title=The golden age of Prince Henry the Navigator |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1914 |publisher=Chapman and Hall |location=London |isbn= |url=http://www.archive.org/details/goldenageofprinc00martuoft }}
* {{cite book |last=Russell |first=Peter E. |title=Prince Henry "the Navigator": a life |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |year=2000 |isbn=0300082339 |oclc=42708239}}
== Fiction ==
* [[Arkan Simaan]], ''L'Écuyer d'Henri le Navigateur'', Éditions l'Harmattan, Paris. Historical novel based on [[Zurara]]'s chronicles, written in French. ISBN : 978-2-296-03687-1
* Mentioned in the prologue of the [[SNES]] game, [[Uncharted Waters]].
* Appears as the Portuguese Leader in the [[Age of Empires 3]] Videogame
== See also ==
* [[Diogo Gomes]]
* [[Alvise Cadamosto]]
* [[Gomes Eannes de Azurara]]
* [[Prince Henry the Navigator Park]]
* [http://www.ttaxi.pt/Cyties/airport-transfers-from-faro-airport-Dafonsohen.jpg Prince Henry the Navigator statue Lagos Portugal]
{{commonscat|Henry the Navigator}}
<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->
{{Persondata
|NAME=Henry the Navigator
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Infante Henrique, Duke of Viseu; Prince Henry the Navigator; Prince Henry the Seafarer; Infante D. Henrique; Infante Henrique of Portugal; Prince Henry of Portugal
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Portuguese prince patron of voyages of exploration
|DATE OF BIRTH=4 March 1394
|PLACE OF BIRTH=Porto
|DATE OF DEATH=13 November 1460
|PLACE OF DEATH=Sagres
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry the Navigator}}
[[Category:1394 births]]
[[Category:1460 deaths]]
[[Category:Dukes of Viseu]]
[[Category:House of Aviz]]
[[Category:Knights of the Garter]]
[[Category:People from Porto]]
[[Category:15th-century explorers]]
[[Category:Portuguese explorers]]
[[Category:Portuguese princes]]
[[Category:Age of Discovery]]
[[ar:إنريكه الملاح]]
[[bg:Енрике Мореплавателя]]
[[ca:Enric el Navegant]]
[[cs:Jindřich Mořeplavec]]
[[da:Henrik Søfareren]]
[[de:Heinrich der Seefahrer]]
[[es:Enrique el Navegante]]
[[fr:Henri le Navigateur]]
[[ko:항해왕자 엔히크]]
[[id:Henrique sang Navigator]]
[[it:Enrico il Navigatore]]
[[he:אנריקה הנווט]]
[[lv:Enrike Jūrasbraucējs]]
[[hu:Tengerész Henrik]]
[[nl:Hendrik de Zeevaarder]]
[[ja:エンリケ航海王子]]
[[no:Henrik Sjøfareren]]
[[nn:Henrik Sjøfararen]]
[[pl:Henryk Żeglarz]]
[[pt:Infante D. Henrique]]
[[ru:Генрих-Мореплаватель]]
[[simple:Henry the Navigator]]
[[sr:Енрике Морепловац]]
[[fi:Henrik Purjehtija]]
[[sv:Henrik Sjöfararen]]
[[zh:恩里克 (航海家)]]